Sharing the Rail Trail--with snowshoes and memories

Anyone living in coastal Connecticut knows that there is an incredible winter going on there! January recorded the most snowfall in the state ever and everyone knows that February usually brings even more snow than the first month of the year. So local skiing, downhill and Nordic, is alive and well in the Nutmeg state.
Today I decided to take advantage of the local snow to do some cross-county skiing on the Monroe section of the Housatonic Valley Rail-Trail. My brother had reported to me that the ski tracks on the Putnam Rail Trail in Westchester County were often obliterated by snowshoe-ers, but I was happy to find that Connecticut snowshoe-ers are more considerate of the skiers who share the trail. The Monroe trail makes a straight line through the woods as so many rail trails do, with a bonus detour along the way to a trail that circles the swimming pond at Wolff Park. The pond is long frozen over and some have taken a short-cut straight across the ice rather than the loop around it.
Cross country skiing is not ski-walking. Though skiers may not approach the speeds of downhillers, there is a thrill to be had as one silently glides through woods and meadows. The constant motion required means there are rarely cold fingers or toes out on the Nordic trails. To take full advantage of the underfoot scales on recreation wax-less skis or the sticky wax on performance skis, skiers should remember this tip: never let their knees get ahead of their feet. By driving forward with the knee a skier will maintain contact with the snow, be in good position for a powerful friction "kick" and enjoy an extended glide.
My skiing today included some nostalgic moments. This is the same trail that years ago I walked or skied weekly with the family dog during the hour that my sons spent in a nearby studio learning to play the piano. They are now accomplished musicians and I live in a different town (with a different dog)and this recreation path is a little out of the way for regular visits. But it was definitely worth the drive on a sunny Sunday to get some invigorating exercise and a trip down a trail full of memories.

Are You Old Enough to Race?

-->

Race season is getting underway again—at least in Connecticut—with the first Connecticut Ski Council (CSC) race scheduled for December 13. During the season the CSC sponsors NASTAR sanctioned races and race results throughout the season contribute to weekly rankings and end-of-season prizes. The NASTAR program allows skiers to race against others both locally and throughout the country within age categories. The NASTAR website describes the recreational ski racing program in this way:

Developed by SKI Magazine in 1968, NASTAR (NAtional STAndard Race) is the largest recreational ski and snowboard race program in the world. Since the program's inception, more than 6 million skier and snowboarder racer days have been recorded. Our mission is simple - to provide a fun, competitive and easily accessible racing program that, through the development of a handicap system, allows racers of all ages and abilities a means to compare their race results to other competitors across the country regardless of when and where they race.1

One thing that the NASTAR originators underestimated was the abundance of senior citizen competitors. Over the last few decades NASTAR has had to increase their upper age category ranges a number of times. In the 1980s the most senior age category was 70+ and when 80 year olds found themselves racing against people 10 years younger they were understandably miffed. Eventually an 80+ category was added, then 90+ and now 95+. One senior racer, Lou Batori of Michigan plans to race this season at the age of 100 years old! He tells the story of being on a chairlift last season with a teen ager who admired the 95+ patch on the sleeve of his ski jacket. According to a NASTAR reporter , “when [the boy] asked about it, it became clear that he thought Batori belonged to a very exclusive club: skiers who go faster than 95 m.p.h. ‘I didn’t say anything, because I knew he was going to tell his buddies about me,’ Batori says.”2

In the 2010/2011 season senior racers may fall into any of these categories: 80-84, 85-89, 90-94, 95+. In the most senior category there is at least one competitive 100-year-old just itching to compete on the slopes!

1 http://www.nastar.com/articles/how-does-nature-valley-nastar-work-0 accessed 12/10/2010

2 http://www.nastar.com/articles/100-year-old-skier-lou-batori-pushing-nastars-age-limits accessed 12/10/1010

Swaps and Sales Make Waiting for Snow Easier

The 2010-2011 Ski Season has begun in the Alps! Austria has seven glacier ski areas open and in Switzerland “it’s cold enough for the snow to stay.” Resorts in Italy and Germany are set to open this weekend. So when will it start for us in the northeastern United States? In 1988 Mt Snow, in southern Vermont, opened on Halloween. Sunday River in Maine turned on the Locke Mountain Chairlift this afternoon to become the first area to open in 2010. Most years, top to bottom skiing on northeastern mountains doesn’t start until Thanksgiving and it looks like we will have to wait at least that long before we can fly downhill this year.

But in the meantime, the ski swaps have begun in earnest—with some of them already behind us. In Vermont November 8 brings the Waitsfield Ski and Skate sale, November 19-21 is the Okemo Mountain Ski Swap and Sale. In New Hampshire the McIntyre Ski Area hosts a ski swap on October 18-23. On November13-14 the Eastern Slope Ski Club Swap hosts their event in North Conway. In Connecticut Mt. Southington will hold their ski swap October 23-24th.

Call ahead to check the dates but plan to get the best deals on equipment, clothing and accessories for everything from aerodynamic helmets to heated boots.

If you can't get to the Alps, don't despair! Browse the sales while you get psyched for the snow.

Skiing in July?

So, the southern hemisphere is ski country in July, and New Zealand hosts some great destination resorts. The cosmopolitan resort town of Queenstown offers a "lively apres ski culture" and the skiing is said to be pretty good too. The write up at http://www.newzealand.com/travel/about-nz/features/ski-new-zealand/index.cfm sounded like a perfect break from the wretched heat of the northeast U.S. this year so I decided to plan a visit.

Thinking I could take a week's vacation I decided to go from next Sunday, 7/25, through the following weekend to return on Monday, August 2. A KAYAK travel search found the best fare-- the trip would cost $1,803 (and 29 cents) and take 2 days each way. For me, the travel time was worse news than the travel cost! Covering 9,280 miles in 24 hours would be a feat to marvel at, but would eat up those precious vacation days very quickly. A week off might yield only 3 days of skiing! The payoff was fun to imagine, but this municipal servant will stay closer to home this July.

Warm days in ski country are not all bad. I found myself in Stowe, Vermont last month. I didn't miss the cozy winter fireplace while savoring an outdoor meal on the shaded patio of a lovely inn, eavesdropping on the comments of the couple and her parents at the table next to me as they sampled dishes from the chef in order to make informed decisions about the food to be served at next summer's wedding. And while the snowy mountains near Montreal and environs in winter provide glimpses of heaven, a sailboat on lake Memphremagog or a bicycle ride along her shores can't be done on the ice covered skating track of winter fame.

So, I won't ski this July. I will wait. Patiently. Actively. For these sultry months to pass so real life can begin again!

The GOLF connection

I have recently taken up golf. By recently I mean two summers ago, after my father died and my mother found herself without a partner, she talked me into substituting. I finally had my first lesson, or week of lessons, on an elder-hostel trip with her to a ski/golf resort last week. I am hooked.

I spoke to a work acquaintance today, my first day back from vacation, with whom I have swapped ski stories over the years. I mentioned my recent vacation and my new off-season passion. "Oh yeah," she said. "Skiers LOVE to golf. I find that my first day on the golf course in the spring gets me started imagining the next season of skiing; and my first day on the slopes each winter gets me psyched for the next season of golf."

It seems she is right. When I search academic databases for articles about the connection there is no dirth of information. All of the biggest and best ski areas offer first class golf courses in the off season. Clearly, a slope side condo is going to have more appeal if there is a reason to occupy it on weekends year round.

While most of the articles I found dealt with the issues of year-round resort design and management, one described a golf event that goes on at an Italian resort while the snow is still on the ground! It seems that at the Rein resort in Taufers, Italy a charity golf event was held on February 23, 2008. According to the journal Turf Professional, "Contestants used bright orange balls on a nine hole course specifically built for the event."

Call me crazy, but the idea of playing golf in the snow with skis on just makes my insides quiver. The only thing that could make it better would be a hot toddy bar between the 9th and 10th holes.

The Christianias

I remember "stems." I remember "christies." I remember "stem christies." But christianias? I don't remember those. In his 1947 book Invitation to Skiing Fred Iselin writes "...once you learn [the advanced stem turn], you'll be right next door to the most exciting family of turns in all skiing, the christianias. There's magic in the name, and magical is the sensation of doing them. Magical, too, will be the way you look on skis when you've mastered the christies, as they're called." He continues that these turns can only be attempted if all that has gone before has been mastered--the snow plow, the snow-plow turns, the stem turns, the controlled slide slipping. It all sounds so complicated! But once the mechanics became second nature, the lovely christiania turns allowed a skier to dance effortlessly down the slope.

In addition to being a magical skiing technique, Christiania is to some a magical place. A social experiment in the middle of Copenhagen, Denmark, Christiania is both a neighborhood and a tourist attraction that grew out of an abandoned military site. The stated mission of the community is "to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the wellbeing of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted." The legal status of Christiania is not exactly clear, but the community continues to evolve into a haven for non-conformists--part commune, part sanctuary; progressive and independent, one thousand people living outside the normal bounds of law and order.
Christiania, you have my heart

Bindings made the difference

The March 1978 issue of SKI features an article entitled "Bindings: they can change the way you ski." by D. Pfeiffer. In 1991 the International Journal of Sport Biomechanics published "An alpine ski binding with electrically modulated twist release," describing a toe piece with a "special solenoid activated mechanism that alters the binding spring constant." So yes, in anybody's book, bindings have made the difference--fewer injuries, better skiing. But, it sure was easier to scoot across the flat places between the lodge and the ski lift when you could convert your alpine ski to a X-country board by flipping the cable out of the heel hook!